by Michael Conroy - AP

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Fooch runs the fantastic SB Nation site for the 49ers, Niners Nation. I asked him 5 questions about the 49ers.

Brandon:  So are you an QB Alex Smith believer, or won't he ever live up to his No. 1 overall status? His 2009 stats look very similar to his 2006 stats.

Fooch: I remain, unfortunately, somewhere in the middle.  I think he has sufficient talent to turn into a quality NFL quarterback.  The last two seasons he was knocked out by injuries and so he never really had a chance to continue a normal progression.  At the same time I don't know if he'll ever be a franchise quarterback for this team.  The upside to his promotion this season is that 49ers fans can finally get some kind of idea of what Smith can bring to the table.  I think the 49ers will finally get their answer by the end of the season and can finally decide whether to fish or cut bait with him.

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by Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

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Despite the big win last week, it would be easy for the Green Bay Packers to suffer a let down. The 49ers have an outstanding defense, and it won't be easy to run the score up against them. If the 49ers can keep the score close, and then come up with a big play or two, they could easily pull off the upset. 

The league rankings, by yardage, from NFL.com:

Those rankings are fair, except as to the 49ers pass defense. They are not that bad, and are actually one of the better units in the NFL. Their opponents have attempted 338 passes against them, currently tied for 3rd most in the league, but they've only allowed 9 TDs and grabbed 11 INTs. Though their INT stats are inflated by the 5 INTs surrendered by QB Jay Cutler last week. On the other hand, the Packers have 13 INTs on the season and only 4 of those came from Cutler.

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Losing a former 2nd round pick, QB Brian Brohm, and replacing him with a QB who went undrafted and spent last season playing Division II college football is a big step down.

But if there is a silver lining about the news that QB Mike Reilly was signed to the practice squad, it's that Reilly's an interesting player. Here's his bio from NFL Draft Scout. He was major college prospect who went to Washington State, but transferred to Division II Central Washington after his redshirt season. He threw for 12,448 yards in college, 3rd all time in Division II history, and won the Division II equivalent of the Heisman trophy last year. And at 6'3", 214 lbs., he's got the size to play in the NFL. The Packers' personnel department must have scouted him, and known all about him, so this isn't just a random signing to fill the open QB spot on the practice squad. 

Hopefully he stays on the practice squad for the rest of the season, and sticks around through next year, because I'd like to see him play in a preseason game.

Week 1 of the jersey contest is in the books. Hopefully I'll remember to post the results shortly, but in the meantime, the entry form for this week's game is now open. Follow the link here. The contest details were posted last week here.

Please use the same user name, and email address, you used last week so I can keep track of the cumulative score for November. And if you didn't enter last week, go ahead and enter this week anyway. I ask two bonus questions, only one entry got either of them right last week, and you can easily get to the top of the leader board if you correctly guess them.

Good luck!

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

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It's well deserved that CB Charles Woodson was named NFC defensive player of the week. When was the last time a Green Bay Packer defender had as dominant a game?

In a minor move, WR Jake Allen was released. He was quickly claimed by the Browns. Aaron Nagler was less than impressed with Allen during the Buccaneers game. He rarely played this preseason, only recording 2 receptions. He was just your generic, undrafted free agent who made no impression.

This does leave a roster spot open, but three key players returned to practice on Wednesday, TE Jermichael Finley, LB Aaron Kampman, and RT Mark Tauscher, so they don't necessarily need to add someone this week since that new addition would likely be left inactive on Sunday.

But according to Greg Bedard, the Packers opened up that roster spot so they could add QB Brian Brohm from the practice squad. Unfortunately he declined the offer and instead signed with the Buffalo Bills. That's the 2nd player they've lost from the practice squad to the Buffalo Bills, OL Jamon Meredith was the other player lost back in September. 

It hurts that they lost a recent 2nd round pick for nothing in return. But Brohm was clearly the 3rd best QB on the team over the last two seasons. He was much better this preseason compared to his rookie year. He probably had little chance of moving ahead of backup QB Matt Flynn, and had no chance of taking the starting job away from QB Aaron Rodgers. At best, he could have shown some improvement next preseason, as did former Packer preseason superstar QB Matt Hasselbeck, and then been traded for something in a year or two. In the end, he turned out to be a high priced insurance policy in case Rodgers fell on his face last season. And it was offset by the knowledge that they used a 7th round pick in 2008 on a backup QB (Flynn) who appears to have 2nd round talent.

Watching the Browns game on Monday night reminded me of Brohm. Both he and QB Brady Quinn have poor accuracy past about 10 yards. If Quinn could be an NFL starter, it seemed ridiculous that Brohm couldn't find a team interested in adding him to their active roster. If QB Bruce Gradkowski can start in Oakland, then certainly Brohm deserves a chance somewhere. He might not get that chance this season, but he'll probably be given an opportunity to win the Bills starting job next season.

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Are now up at SBNation.com. The Green Bay Packers only move up from No. 16 to No. 14 because I didn't get my vote recorded in time. Since I'm a homer, I would have put them at No. 8, which might have moved them up a spot. Although I have to admit it's hard for the Packers to break out from the group of seven teams currently holding a 5-4 record. That is some parity.

Via Football Outsiders. An englishman in Green Bay, from the BBC:

I was in Green Bay over the weekend with BBC 5 live sports extra - as part of the first ever British commentary team to broadcast live from the US - to witness the hometown Packers record a much-needed win over the visiting Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field.

More photos » by Paul Sakuma - AP

7 days ago: San Francisco 49ers safety Michael Lewis waves after intercepting a pass in the end zone from Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler on the last play of an NFL football game in San Francisco, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009. The 49ers defeated the Bears 10-6. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

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The weekly DVOA ratings came out on Tuesday from Football Outsiders, and the Green Bay Packers have the No. 1 defense in the NFL. The 49ers have the No. 2 defense. 

Overall, both defenses shot up the rankings last week with dominant performances against the Cowboys and Bears, respectively. Both teams play a 3-4 defense, and both are succeeding in the same way: a Top 10 pass defense is anchored by a Top 5 run defense. Another way to measure them is by using the QB Jay Cutler barometer: he threw 4 INTs against the Packers, but 5 INTs against the 49ers. 

Over the last 4 weeks, which is after each teams' bye week, here's how they've played:

Packers (2-2). They dominated the Browns and held their woeful offense to 139 yards in total. As a team, the Packers allowed 38 points in each game against the Vikings and Buccaneers, but special teams, and turnovers in the Bucs game, kept handing their opponents great field position. The Packers D held the Vikings offense to just 355 yards in total, and the Bucs to only 279 yards. Their most recent game was their best, as they held the potent Cowboys offense to only 278 yards in total, and forced them to abandon their usually dangerous running game. The only problem area has been their pass defense in the red zone, which has allowed 6 red zone TD receptions in the last 3 games. 

49ers (1-3). They held the dangerous Texans offense to only 336 yards, but allowed 3 TDs in the 1st half. The Colts had 410 yards against them, but they held QB Peyton Manning without a TD in Indianapolis. The Titans only had 315 yards of offense, despite another huge game from RB Chris Johnson. And while the Bears managed 350 yards in total against them, the 5 INTs they grabbed made that yardage almost useless. 

The Packers have been playing better over this stretch, as their No. 1 ranking would attest to, but the 49ers have played against better competition. I'm not sure the Browns even count as competition. Which defense has appeared more impressive over the last 4 weeks?

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Follow the link over to NFL.com and show rookie LB Clay Matthews some love.

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Injuries, Injuries, injuires...from Mike McCarthy:

Cullen Jenkins had some ankle swelling. He'll probably miss some practice time this week. Desmond Bishop also had an ankle sprain. He'll probably miss some practice time. Greg Jennings had a knee contusion. He'll miss some practice time. And John Kuhn had a broken hand, and we'll see what he'll be able to do this week. With that, I'll take your questions. 

The only injury he mentioned in his post-game press conference was LG Daryn Colledge's ankle bruise, but Colledge returned to the game at few plays later. The three guys who missed the Dallas game, RT Mark Tauscher, TE Jermichael Finley, and LB Aaron Kampman, are all expected back at practice this week. A lot of guys are banged up, and there's still 7 regular season games to go.

According to Rob Demovsky, the Packers should have been assessed a 15 yard penalty after McCarthy tried a 3rd challenge. I admit I hadn't noticed. The Cowboys got down to the 1 yard line anyway, and were stopped when QB Tony Romo threw a INT to CB Charles Woodson, so I'm not sure it would have mattered.

P Jeremy Kapinos is a great punter, in practice, says special teams coach Shawn Slocum. Slocum better be careful, praising P Derrick Frost's practice skills didn't help Mike Stock keep his job after last season. I haven't been a big critic of Kapinos because he's not as bad as Frost and I doubt they'd find anyone better at this point. Still, he's one of the worst punters in the NFL and the Packers will have to bring in some serious competition next season. For the remainder of this season, Greg Bedard suggested P Sam Paulescu, but he was bad last season in Dallas with a 41.8 yard average, compared to a 44.2 yard average for Kapinos. His net average is even worse, but the punt coverage deserves a lot of blame for it.

In his 1st NFL start, LB Brad Jones had 7 tackles and 1 for a loss. I'm a big fan of his, but I was disappointed he couldn't bring more of a pass rush against the Cowboys' backup RT. A good game, but those are LB A.J. Hawk type numbers. So I'm surprised that the comments are praising Jones, McCarthy has been asked whether Kampman remains the starter, and Tom Silverstein writes about Jones's emergence.